Reading practice

Reading Practice (Prática de Leitura)

(Fatec-Sp) Texto para as questões 1 a 3.

The condition of the teaching profession in the USA is akin to that of many underdeveloped countries.
Time and time again we have heard how undervalued teachers are in terms of salary and their status in American society. We have heard from teachers who overwork by having to hold two or three jobs just to get by. After 12 years of service, the average annual salary for teaching is approximately $30.000. Also teachers have little say in such crucial decisions as, for example, textbook selection.
Such conditions, together with the highly decentralized educational system discourage the best and the brightest from entering the profession or staying in it; the very people we’d like to have teaching our children.
Also, there’s a severe shortage of teachers in such fields as mathematics and science: fewer than one third of U.S. high schools offer Physics taught by qualified teachers. The decline of education is supposed to threaten our future as a nation and as a people. Our purpose is not to seek scapegoats, but to define the problems and find ways to overcome them. There is no time to lose. Education may be costly, but the costs of ignorance are infinite.

Tradução

A condição da profissão docente nos EUA é semelhante ao de muitos países subdesenvolvidos.
De tempos em tempos temos ouvido que os professores estão subvalorizadas em termos de salário e seu status na sociedade norte-americana. Nós ouvimos de professores que excesso de trabalho por ter de segurar dois ou três empregos para sobreviver . Após 12 anos de serviço, o salário médio anual para o ensino é de cerca de $ 30,000 . Também os professores têm pouco a dizer em tais decisões cruciais como, por exemplo , a seleção de livros didáticos .
Tais condições , juntamente com o sistema educacional altamente descentralizada desencorajar os melhores e os mais brilhantes de entrar